U-Pb garnet geochronology is a great technique for dating metamorphic and igneous rocks, but garnets have very low U and Pb. Sometimes we might be dating the inclusions instead. It is not always clear what is and is not an inclusion!

See the paper here: lnkd.in/gGriU_Fv

#geology #geochronology

Announcing MinPlotX, an open-source software for mineral formula recalculation and compositional plotting with an easy-to-use stand-alone graphical user interface.
The open-access paper is here: lnkd.in/eB4im8dh
MinPlotX can be downloaded here: lnkd.in/eXMHtkkK
#geology #petrology #minerals

Finally some #geology on The Late Show. If he can remember that cummingtonite is in the monoclinic crystal system so can you!

First lecture of 2025 prepared! How do minerals grow and rocks form? Seems like a very basic question in geology, given how much of the science is build on the prerequisite of rocks existing in nature, but the answer is complex. #petrology #metamorphism #kinetics #thermodynamics

New paper alert! Micas and chlorite show progressive recrystallization in a retrograde shear zone, demonstrating that pressure solution is the dominant deformation mechanism (followed by grain boundary sliding). Check it out here lnkd.in/gCqMxaJB

#geology #metamorphic #rocks #minerals #science

U-Pb garnet geochronology reveals a 400 million year evolution of the lower crust, including multiple periods of ultrahigh temperature metamorphism! Check it out: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
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I will start in July as an Assistant Professor of Petrochronology at the University of Graz, Austria. Looking forward to new research opportunities and the chance to grow as an educator. Keep an eye on this space as I will advertise a PhD position soon. ⚒️🧪🔬⚛️

Interested in subduction zones and volatiles? Consider submitting to our session at EMC 2024 in Dublin. Abstracts are due on March 22nd: emc-2024.org/abstract-sub...

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Thinking of attending EMC24 in Dublin? Consider submitting an abstract to our session in honor of Ed Grew! Abstracts submission (22 March deadline) & registration here: emc-2024.org/registration/ ⚒️🧪🌎

Fantastic USGS map of all of the natural waterfalls in the USA. How many does your state have? Proud to be from Washington state, which tops the chart with a total of 2907 waterfalls! ⚒️

These poor garnets have been through a lot! Sliced and sheared to bit on their journey in an ancient subduction zone. Maybe they will tell us about what happened to them? Fingers crossed! ⚒️

I am excited to announce a new PhD position open at the University of Bern. Looking for a student interested in geochemistry and petrology to join a vibrant group researching subduction zone processes. DM me if you want the full advertisement.

Emery is a metamorphic rock, also called corundite, occurs when Al-rich laterite soils are metamorphosed at high temps. Here it has been mined for abrasives on the island of Naxos, GR since prehistoric times. Vote corundum, it both looks great and is useful industrially! Can topaz do that?

Did you know we don't know who vivianite is named after? Abraham Gottlob Werner named the mineral, but died shortly after. It is named after either John Henry Vivian or Jeffrey G. Vivian, both mineralogists from Great Britain.

I voted for sapphirine, a rare Mg-Al-Si mineral that forms at extremely high-T conditions. For example, this garnet-sapphirine-quartz lower crustal xenolith from S. Africa formed at 1100-1200 degrees celsius. Some of the hottest metamorphic rocks on Earth!